The Bond
by leafsyrup
Summary: The Blood Moon won't give up when it comes to keeping our favorite princess and Safe Kid together. 7 years into the future, what happens when 24 year old Marco finds a pair of dimensional scissors left by Star under his bed? Rated T, but possibly M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey there!_**

 ** _Thank you for taking the time to read my first ever published SVTFOE fic. I just want to see how this works out, and if I get some positivity I'll consider on making a second chapter! I have a storyline already planned out if this does go good. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated! I do not own the characters of SVTFOE. All credit goes to Daron Nefcy and Disney._**

 ** _Now, on with the story._**

* * *

 _"Wait! I don't want you to go. I want you to stay with us."_

 _"Really?! Huggggs!"_

* * *

"But you can't go!" A 17 year old Marco Diaz cried out, grabbing hold of the blonde princess's arm to stop her from walking through the portal she had opened in the living room of the Diaz household. Angie and Rafael were helping Star pack the rest of her bags in the meantime.

"Marco, please.." Star Butterfly insisted, looking at her best friend with sadness in her eyes and tugging at her arm a bit. "I'm sorry, I have to. Just let go."

Marco shook his head. "You can't just leave! What about the puppies? What about my parents, and everyone from school?" The brunette boy paused, tears threatening to spill from his already red puffy eyes. "What about... me?" He let out a sad chuckle, finally letting Star's wrist slip out of his grasp, to the girl's surprise. The look on his face shattered her heart into a million pieces.

To this, Star turned and nearly tackled Marco in a hug. "I'm so sorry!" She sobbed into his chest as Marco returned the embrace, almost lifting the girl off the ground with his strong arms. "I'm sorry, Marco. I don't want to leave! I don't want to leave you!"

"Don't cry. Please. You're going to make me cry." With his thumb, Marco wiped Star's tears away, letting his hand rest on her cheek. God, she was so beautiful. Even when tears were cascading down her face like a waterfall. Star leaned into his touch, her fingers wrapping around his wrist delicately. "I'll miss you." Marco mumbled so quietly that only she could hear. He couldn't help but smile. Despite Star leaving Earth in just a few minutes, it was these little moments with her that gave him butterflies in his stomach. He loved her. Marco Diaz was in love with Star Butterfly. There was no denying it now.

"I'm going to miss you, too." Star's bottom lip quivered, and it was obvious that she was about to cry again. Everything seemed to freeze for Marco, as if he were in another freeze day with Star when they were 14 all over again. The times he spent with her flashed before his eyes, as if the universe was trying to tell him something. And at that moment, he blocked out all sounds around him. All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat, and Star's breathing.

 ** _Thmp, thmp._**

 _'Should I kiss her?'_

 ** _Thmp, thmp._**

 _'What if she doesn't feel the same?'_

' _I can't risk it.'_

 ** _Thmp, thmp._**

 _'I can't.'_

Marco shut his eyes and pulled Star into another hug, burying his head in her neck and hair and taking in the scent. When they were younger, he always assumed she wore some sort of candy perfume. She smelled wildly of sweet tarts and jolly ranchers (which were in fact her favorite candy on Earth). But after that, he just figured she had it naturally.

Star returned the hug and gripped the fabric of his flannel shirt. His outfit taste had changed over the years, from his signature red hoodie, to just t-shirts, then long sleeves, and now: flannels. And of course, it was red.

After a moment or so, they broke apart. Star smiled up at Marco, and opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off once a few barks were heard down the hallway, and there came running about 5 laser puppies all at once, including Star's favorite: Sajak. The girl picked him up gently, and Marco let out a soft laugh. "You should take him with you," he started. "He'll keep you company back on Mewni."

Star giggled and nodded, hugging Sajak close. Marco ruffled the dog's fur. "Look after her for me, okay, bud?" Marco commanded, and in response he got a bark and a laser shot into his arm. That hurt like hell.

Eventually, Star said her final goodbyes to Angie and Rafael, and her best friend watched as she trudged sadly to the portal in front of her. "G-goodbye." She stammered, trying her best not to cry again. She then stepped through and was about to seal it off for good, but turned around quickly and locked eyes with Marco.

"Marco Diaz?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you forget about me." Star backed up a few steps, lifting her hand that held the scissors and closing it off, right in front of him.

The house became silent, and the Diaz's foreign exchange student of 4 years was out of their sight.

"Never." Marco mumbled under his breath, clenching his fists tightly. "I'll never forget you."

The boy then made his way to his room upstairs and closed the door. His parents watched sadly as their son went up to his bedroom, most likely for the rest of the night. They couldn't imagine what he must've been feeling, for he never acted that depressed whenever the other exchange students left. But they just assumed it was because Star stayed with them the longest. Marco threw himself on the bed and shut his eyes as the light of the blood moon leaked through his bedroom window.

* * *

 ** _~Present time, 7 years later~_**

 _Beep, beep._

 _Beep, beep._

 _Beep-_

Marco slammed his fist on the snooze button of his alarm clock, set for 7:00am sharp. He was finally moving out of his parent's house to live with Alfonso and Ferguson in an apartment they all pay rent for.

It felt like the same routine for the past 7 years: wake up, go to the bathroom, get ready for the day, sit in the house and do literally nothing. Marco didn't end up going to college like he always dreamed of. He just couldn't bring himself to it after Star left. He went into depression, and drinking. Luckily Alfonso and Ferg were there to help him back onto his feet.

The boy rolled over to lay on his back, staring at the same ceiling he slept under his entire life. This was a drastic change for him. A whole new life..

A life without _her_.

"Stop that." He whispered to himself, covering his face with his hands. Not soon after, the laser puppies; now fully grown golden labradors, jumped onto their owner's bed all at once. "Hey!" Marco laughed as he was showered with licks around his face. "Goodmorning to you, too."

Once they all jumped off, he got out of bed and got dressed. And for the next few hours or so, he packed until nearly everything was out of his room.

Marco took a look at his walls that were devoid of karate posters. So many memories with Star were made in here. And he missed that. One of the dogs barked to get Marco's attention, and he turned around and got down on one knee. "What is it, boy?" He cooed, petting the dog gently.

The laser dog lifted his head and dropped a strip of paper in front of Marco, and he picked it up to flip it over.

He felt sadness overtake him immediately once he saw what it was.

An old photo booth strip of him and Star. In the first frame, they had their arms around each other in a hug. In the second, Marco was wearing Star's devil horn headband, and she was wearing his hoodie. He wondered how quick they managed to sort of switch outfits like that, considering they only had about 5 seconds until the camera took the picture. In the third frame, Star was using a long strand of her hair to act as a mustache, and Marco was just doing some dorky expression. He let out a soft chuckle and looked at the dog in front of him. That animal was smart, he had to admit.

He stuffed the photo in his back pocket and was just about to leave, before he saw something glistening out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look, he realized there was one more box until his bed. It was fairly small, small enough for your to hold in one hand. It was under his bed, half opened, and the glistening he saw was coming from the object inside of it.

One of the laser puppies - well, dogs, latched onto it with his teeth and pulled it out from under Marco's bed, pushing the gray container to his owner's feet.

Marco kneeled down to pick it up. And once he opened it, he was shocked.

A pair of dimensional scissors.

And on the back of said box there was a folded note attached. "Scissors?" Marco questioned. "What are these doing here? I remember Star left with her pair."

Marco then felt the note on the back and unfolded it. He recognized the handwriting immediately, and it nearly brought tears to his eyes.

The letter read..

' _Dear Marco,_

 _It's me, Star. (Pfsh, well, obviously) I don't know when you're going to read this letter. That is, if you ever do read it._ _I'm writing this on the morning of our senior graduation. Crazy, right? It all went by so fast._ _So.._ _Today, I'm leaving for Mewni to become queen. I mean, that's the whole reason I came to Earth in the first place. To train with my wand and become the princess that my mother always wanted me to be, blah blah blah._

 _We had some crazy adventures, you and I. I just wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for making my experience on Earth the best a magical princess from another dimension could ever ask for. When I first heard that I had to stay on Earth, I was a little scared. Scared that I would be alone.._

 _But then you came along._

 _You made me believe that not all boys were bad. (sorry, after the breakup with Tom, I just kinda trained myself that all boys were idiots and jerks.) And you were also the very first boy friend I've ever had. I mean.. boy-friend. You know, a friend who's a boy.'_

Marco smiled. She was always so goofy, even in written form.

' _Anyway, there's so many things that I want to tell you, but I don't have enough time. You're currently in the shower making yourself look nice and tidy. And I still need time to hide the dimensional scissors, too._

 _Oh, yeah. I guess I should tell you why I put those in there._

 _Well, there's your own pair of dimensional scissors. (You can thank me later) I've given these to you so you can go to the Bounce Lounge or the Amethyst Arcade with Alfonso and Ferg whenever you'd like. And.. maybe even come visit me, (which is what I mostly kinda sorta want you to do first, thanks.)_

 _I know that you'll use them wisely. And, be proud! Only few people in the royal kingdom and in other dimensions have their hands on a pair of those babies._

 _But.. if you never do end up finding this, then I just wasted my time writing this entire letter. My hand really hurts, by the way._

 _So, yeah! By the time you're reading this, I'm probably getting ready for my coronation ceremony right about now, so if you find this early enough, you should totally come!'_

Marco felt depressed all of a sudden. She wanted him at her coronation.. and he was stupid enough to find this just now. He mentally slapped himself. She was probably waiting, and waiting..

 _'I think that's all I have to say. Just know that, I'm going to miss you Marco Diaz. The time here that I spent with you was the greatest gift a girl could ask for. I wouldn't trade it for anything._

 _We'll see each other again, Marco. In another life._

 _I promise you that._

 _Sincerely,_

 ** _Star Butterfly_** '

Marco was sitting on his bed now, tears streaming down his cheeks. They were happy tears, though. He was a snip of scissors away from seeing his best friend again, after all these years. And that made him so happy.

He stood up from his bed, walking downstairs and packing things like water bottles, snacks, then went back up to his room and packing a few extra pairs of clothes throwing his backpack over his shoulders. Cutting a portal, he looked over at the view of Mewni on the other side, and smiled to himself.

"I'm coming, Star." Marco uttered ever so softly. He gave one last look at his bedroom, before stepping through and shutting the dimensional rift between Mewni and Earth.

* * *

 ** _Ahhhh! Thank you for reading all the way till the end! Please tell me what you thought about it in the reviews. It really helps out alot! Like I said, if I get a lot of y'all asking me to continue this story, I'll write a second chapter!~_**

 ** _Also, I'm sorry if some of the elements are different in this story than what has happened in the actual show. For example: Star leaving behind a pair of dimensional scissors for Marco to go after her. I wrote this fanfiction long before "Running With Scissors" premiered, and had no knowledge of Hekapoo giving Marco his own pair. I decided just now to post this, since I was curious._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hello again! As promised, here's your second chapter. I know that it wasn't exactly a lot of reviews, but I'm hoping that by the time I start posting multiples, it'll possibly attract more SVTFOE fans? I dunno. Anyways, enjoy reading, and thank you to those who did leave a review! Your words really warmed my heart and motivated me to actually go through with this story. Shoutout to robertkellett and Kuriyan BBQ. Your reviews were the first ones I saw.**_

 _ **I do not own the characters of SVTFOE. All credit goes to Daron Nefcy and Disney.**_

* * *

~Present time, Mewni~

Once Marco stepped into the portal, he recognized his surroundings immediately, since he had been here numerous times with Star when they were younger. He got a few stares from the villagers and their children, considering they had no clue who he was. He just barged into this dimension with no explanation whatsoever.

"Where to, where to.." The brunette mumbled, before lifting his head to see the grand kingdom of Mewni standing tall in the distance. He smiled, and nodded to himself, wondering what he was going to tell Star when he saw her again. He imagined himself waltzing right into the doors, and Star running into his arms and showering him with hugs and kisses; they live happily ever after. The end.

His fantasy was interrupted however, being bombarded by a crowd of people making their way through the walkways of the village.

"Watch it!"

"Get out of my way!"

"Move!"

The things that certain people called out as they pushed past Marco. He grunted when being shoved, but didn't think much of it. "I'm sorry." He said repeatedly, before finally getting out and into a clear space.

His plans of heading straight to the castle weren't exactly being followed. He had stopped by the village bakery after being lured in by the smell of freshly baked cookies and cupcakes. He decided it would be nice if he had bought Star a little something, just out of the kindness of his heart. He out of all people knew her love for anything sweet was very high.

"Two cupcakes, please. Vanilla and chocolate."

He asked with a smile, watching as the woman behind the counter obliged to his request. She grabbed a fancy box, and neatly put both of the sugary treats inside of it.

"Vanilla, the queen's favorite." The woman started off. "You off to visit her or something?"

She must have read his mind. Marco shifted in his place, tilting his head to the side. "Something like that." He chuckled, taking the box and thanking her. He then suddenly remembered that here, on Mewni, they didn't take actual Earth dollar bills as payment. "Oh.. I, uh.." He stuttered.

"It's on the house." She smiled, tapping her fingernails on the countertop softly. "I know who you are, Marco Diaz. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you Queen Star's friend from Earth?"

Marco was surprised. That must have meant that Star had mentioned him throughout all of Mewni or something.

"Y-yeah, actually. How did you know?" He questioned.

The woman smiled softly. "I just do. Now go, you look like you're dying to see her."

Marco nodded. "Thank you, I really appreciate it." He hurried out of the bakery, cupcakes at hand, until he finally made it up to the palace gates. Of course, there were royal guards out, ready to attack if Marco were to try anything.

"H-hello." Marco said bluntly. "My name's Marco Diaz, a-and I'm well acquainted with Star. Queen Star, I mean."

In all honesty, he could feel himself starting to sweat. The icy gaze of the guards weren't helping either.

"Sorry, but how do we know you're telling the truth? For all we know, you could have a weapon in that bag of yours, and judging by your choice of clothing, I'm assuming that you're not from around here, are you?" One of the guards spoke. Marco shook his head.

"N-no, no. Star used to live with me and my parents, back on Earth. We were best friends, I'd never want to harm her in any way-"

"It goes against the queen's safety. We're sorry, but we cannot let you

pass."

Marco groaned, and was going to open his mouth to speak, before being cut off by the creaking of the palace doors.

"It's alright, Arin. Let him through." A female voice called out. Marco knew who it was immediately. And he could've sworn his heart skipped a beat.

There she was.

Star Butterfly.

She still looked the same, as if she hadn't aged a bit. Like she was still the 17 years old rebel princess who wasn't afraid to break the rules. She was wearing a long, beautiful pink dress, with a laced-up white bodice. She was also wearing her crown.

"Marco.." She giggled, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Marco was in utter shock. He had no idea what to do. On instinct, he dropped his backpack, and they both rushed into each other's arms and hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Which.. they hadn't.

"Oh my god," He panted, suddenly finding it hard for him to breathe. She was there, in person. "S-Star, I-.." He wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry, he wanted to kiss her, but he couldn't, especially since the guards were breathing down his neck.

"You bow to the queen when being spoken to." Arin bellowed, and Marco immediately pulled away from the hug and bowed awkwardly to Star. She covered her mouth to stifle another giggle, shaking her head.

"It's okay." She sighed happily. Marco stood up straight once again and smiled at her.

"I'm assuming we have a lot to catch up on," Star began, "so why don't you come inside?"

"That would be great. Thank you." Marco cleared his throat, and was about to follow her inside, before hearing the soft pitter patter of feet against the palace tile floor. He then saw a child, with blonde hair and sparkling green eyes, run up to Star and grab her hand.

"Mommy, who is that man?" The toddler asked, and Marco froze.

Did she just call Star "mommy"?

Was this little girl supposed to be Star's… daughter?

Star smiled down at the girl and turned to face her best friend.

"Marco, there's someone I want you to meet."

* * *

 ** _Boom. Cliffhanger._**

 ** _Math time: how old do you think Star's daughter is? Remember, both Star and Marco are 24 years old right now. Star left Earth when she was 17. And, theory time: why do you think she even HAS a daughter in the first place?_**

 ** _And no, before you ask, that child is not Marco's. (I secretly wish she was though.)_**

 ** _Thank you once again for reading till the end! I hope you enjoyed it, please leave reviews. They really help out a lot, so I know what I can either continue doing with my story, or possibly work on improving it depending on what y'all say. I do these chapters ahead of time, even though I don't get reviews, because even if I don't continue this story on here, (not saying that I won't continue it), I still like to keep them finished and filed away for myself to read if I ever get bored or need some emergency Starco!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Oh my goodness. I'm so so sorry for not updating in such a long time! As you can tell by now, I procrastinate. Especially since this chapter is going to be extra long to make up for my absence. Enjoy~!_**

 ** _I_** ** _do not own the characters of SVTFOE. All credit goes to Daron Nefcy and Disney._**

 ***TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A MENTIONING OF SUICIDE. PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF IT OFFENDS YOU IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE. THANK YOU.***

* * *

 ** _~Past Time, 7 years earlier~_**

"Does that feel comfortable for you, my queen?" Ember, Star's personal assistant and wardrobe manager, asked as she tightened the ties on Star's wedding dress. The blonde female nodded and gave a small twirl as she stared at herself in the oversized mirror.

"OH MY GOODNESS! Girl, you look GORGEOUS!" Pony Head squealed and smiled from ear to ear at her best friend. Star didn't reply, which made Pony Head worry.

"B-Fly?" She quivered, floating over to get a better look at Star, only to see that she had tears running down her face. And she was 99.9% sure that those were not happy tears. "Star! No, no, why are you crying? What's wrong?"

Star blinked a few times before looking up at Pony Head, completely unaware that she was crying. She lifts a hand up to her face and felt the tear trails, muttering a soft "oh", and wiping the rest of her tears away.

"Sorry," she sniffled, "I must've zoned out for a moment."

Pony Head knew that this was not normal for Star. She never cried unless it was something very, very serious, or if she felt helpless and alone.

It had only been three days after Star left Earth to become queen here in Mewni. And as much as she hated it, she was currently getting ready for her forced marriage with some dude named Clayton. Or more formally, Prince Clayton, from another kingdom in a total other dimension. She met him the day she left Earth, when Moon and River broke the news that she had to be married to Clayton. They discussed it over dinner. Clayton had spilled his red wine on Star's dress, to which she retorted, "I'd rather be married to Marco! At least he knows how to be a gentleman!" and stormed up to her room for the rest of the night.

The thought made her sick. The thought of being married to a total stranger. It also gave her slight anxiety, and made her a bit scared. She knew nothing about this man and what he could do to her if she ticked him off.

All she wanted was for Marco to be there with her. She wanted to feel his arms around her. She wanted him to whisper in her ear like he always used to, and to tell her that everything was going to be okay. That she had nothing to worry about, and that he was here for her.

"Star!" Pony Head shouted, and Star broke out of her train of thought.

Pony Head was Star's closest friend, beside Marco, of course. She could read Star like a book when Star wouldn't admit what she was feeling.

"He would be here if he could. You know that." Pony Head sighed, and Star nodded again. She hadn't told Pony Head about the extra pair of scissors that she hid under his bed, though. She didn't tell anyone, and she wasn't going to, until Marco came with the scissors himself to back up her story.

Hours later, the wedding took place. During the entire ceremony, Star had her eyes on the palace doors, hoping that Marco would burst through those doors like a knight in shining armor, and demand for the wedding to stop.

But he didn't.

* * *

 ** _~Present Time~_**

"Marco, there's someone I want you to meet."

Star hinted, and once they were inside the castle, she picked the girl up and held her close.

"This is Lilacia. My.. daughter."

 _'Daughter?'_

 ** _Thmp, thmp._**

 _'Daughter. Of course.'_

 ** _Thmp, thmp._**

 _'I should've known.'_

The thoughts echoed through Marco's head 100 miles a second, and he suddenly felt awfully lightheaded. But, he forced himself through it anyway. Star was waiting for a response. And Lilacia just eyed Marco carefully, clinging onto her mother.

"Oh.. hello." Marco chimed softly, lifting his hand and giving a small wave. He held out his hand to shake Lilacia's, but the child didn't oblige.

"It's alright, hun. He's nice." Star smiled happily up at Marco as she said so. Lilacia hesitantly put her small hand in Marco's and shook it. It made Marco smile. This child was basically a mini version of Star, excluding any marks on her cheeks. She had Star's hair though, and green eyes, which Marco could only assume was from her father. The blonde haired queen sighed, and set Lilacia back down. Suddenly he heard a few deep barks, and Sajak, fully grown as well, came rushing and jumped on Marco excitedly. He'd always wondered why the dogs never aged in the four years that Star was staying with the Diaz family on Earth. But after Star left, they started to age up, as if they were barely adopted once Star was gone.

Not seconds later, in came Clayton, the king, Lilacia's dad, but most importantly: _Star's husband._ Marco knew immediately the second he saw Clayton walk through that door, that he wasn't going to like him one bit.

"Hm." Clayton hummed nonchalantly, observing Marco from head to toe. He walks over and snakes his arm around Star's waist, pulling her against him, and Marco clenched his fist.

"Who's this?" Clayton questioned, kissing Star's forehead and she gave Marco an apologetic look, as if sensing the same awkward feeling he was having.

"Clayton, this is Marco. He's my best friend from back on Earth." Star explained quietly, shifting her body in Clayton's grasp. Marco could easily tell that she was uncomfortable.

"Ah. The Earth _boy_ ," Clayton began. Marco tightened his jaw rigidly at the name calling. Clayton noticed, and smirked. "What brings you here?"

Marco shrugged absentmindedly, keeping eye contact with Clayton at all times. "I just wanted to visit. I actually came to talk to Star."

" _Oh_!" Clayton let go of Star at once, giving her back a little shove towards Marco. Star grunted softly. "Well, don't mind me. Go ahead. Talk to my _wife_."

Yup. Marco was definitely going to hate this guy, that's for sure.

"Actually, I was hoping I could talk to her by myself." Marco crossed his arms, getting a little fed up with Clayton's attitude.

Star held a hand up to Clayton before he could speak again.

"I'm taking him somewhere private. Do you mind watching Lilacia while I settle things here?" Star tilts her head and Clayton gladly agrees, grabbing Lilacia's hand and leading her out into the brightly lit hallway, to where Marco assumed was her playroom or something.

"Sorry about that." Star pursed her lips, running her fingers through her curled, golden hair. "He gets a little braggy when it comes to talking about me being his, um.. wife."

Marco listened silently, and gave a slow nod, not even wanting to speak. His heart was just getting crushed by the second. Star saw the sad look in his eyes, and stopped walking for a moment to get in front of him.

"Hey.. what's a matter?" Star moved her hands to either side of Marco's face. She had a concerned expression, tilting her head in a cute way. "Come on. I don't want you to be sad. You just got here! Be happy!" She teased, moving her hands back down and grabbing one of his. There's that bubbly voice of hers that he missed oh so dearly. "Let's go somewhere a little more quieter."

Marco could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. He swore, Star was too good to him. And she was so clueless that he was in love with her.

Star lead Marco out to the royal garden. There, they spent minutes walking through the maze together, laughing whenever they hit a dead end. As the time passed, either one of them just continued exchanging coy smiles and warm glances. Until finally, Marco spoke up.

"So.." He started off, running a hand through his chocolate brown hair, just to get it a little frizzed out. Star covered her mouth to stifle a giggle as he did so.

 ** _"How are you?"_** They said simultaneously. Star and Marco began to laugh again. And it made Marco happy.

 ** _"I'm okay, how about you?"_** They both said again. Star shook her head. It made her think about that night of the Blood Moon Ball, on that balcony with Marco.

"Some things never change, do they?" She let out a happy sigh. "I can't believe after all these years, we still do that. Weird.. I like it." The blonde gave a playful smile at him.

Marco followed her over to one of the nearby benches that sat in front of a shiny, white ceramic fountain.

"Let's catch up on things." Star shifted her body so that she was facing him. Marco smiled hesitantly and turned to look at the fountain, pretending that he was interested with something in the water. Star sighed and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"How's it like back on Earth?" She asked, to which Marco replied with a shrug and another nervous smile. Star was concerned with his lack of talking, and she let out a long sigh and pouted.

"Hm. How are.. your parents? Friends?" Star questioned further, and paused before saying her next question. "..Jackie?"

Marco froze.

He never liked to talk about the whole Jackie situation. They were still dating when Star left for Mewni. But they had arguments from time to time. To get to the point, Marco went over to her house one day without notice, and found her sleeping with another guy. Yep, she cheated. Maybe it wasn't her fault. Maybe she got drunk. He didn't know. But it didn't end too pretty. It shook Marco's faith in anyone since then.

"Things just.. didn't work out." Marco admitted with a sad look on his face. Star understood immediately what he meant, and her face softened.

"Marco.. I'm so sorry." Star shook her head and leaned in, pulling him into a gentle hug. She nuzzled her face into his shoulder, and he moved his arms around her waist, returning the hug. Star pulled away from his shoulder and looked up at him, seeing the tiredness in his eyes.

"And _you_?" She pressed him, a concerned look on her face. "I know you said you were fine. But.. you don't _look_ fine."

Marco nodded to this. He promised himself that he'd never lie to Star. This just made it much more difficult. He didn't want her to worry about him and his depression, because if that were the case, she'd have guards watching him 24/7 to make sure he didn't try anything on himself.

"Star, I-.." He cut himself off, and Star silenced him by grabbing both of his hands and holding them in her lap.

"Marco. Listen to me. It's okay.. please. I want to know what's been going on with you. Besides the Jackie thing." She sighed out, giving him a pleading look. "Please, Marco? For me?"

She won him over with that line.

"Okay.. I'll try not to cry. No promises though." He gave his signature goofy smile, but Star remained quiet, preparing herself for whatever Marco had to say.

"Alright. So.. a few weeks after you left.."

* * *

 ** _~Past time, 7 years earlier~_**

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

The sound of the bathroom faucet water dripping repeatedly after Marco had used it to fill a glass of water.

Besides that, everything else was silent. Marco Diaz stared at himself in the mirror for what felt like hours now. In reality, it had only been ten minutes.

He was at the new apartment that he lived in with Alfonso and Ferguson. Star was gone, and he was broken up with Jackie. The boys were out in the living room, laughing and watching movies over pizza. Marco made up an excuse that he ate too much, and that he had a bad stomach ache, so he was able to go to the bathroom and do something he could never reverse. He was about to take sleep medication.

But this time, _he wasn't going to wake up._

Marco's hand shook as he popped open the cap off of the orange tinted, transparent bottle. He poured out the pills into the palm of his hand, staring and thinking of how easy it was to just down them, and this whole thing would be over.

The teen looked back up at himself in the mirror. And smirked.

He thought of all the good memories he had with his friends, and most importantly, _Star Butterfly,_ who would never return to Earth. But, if somehow she was able to visit in the future, Marco wouldn't be around to reunite with his best friend.

"I'm sorry, Star." He mumbled to himself, and in a blink of an eye, he swallowed the bottle of pills. He cleared his throat a couple of times, and grabbed his glass of water and drank it till it was half empty. He backed up until he was leaning against the wall, breathing heavy. His heart started racing.

"Dude, Marco, are you alright in there? Were the garlic bread twists too much for you?" called out a familiar voice; one that belonged to his long time friend, Ferguson. After he got no response, he knocked on the door a couple of times. "Marco?" He called out continuously, and Marco prayed that he'd lose consciousness before Ferguson walked in on him doing this. The redhead started to get worried after two minutes of no reply.

Marco felt his eyelids starting to get heavy. His legs finally gave out on him, and he fell onto the tile floor with a soft thud. Ferguson heard this faintly behind the other side of the door, and gasped.

"Marco? Are you okay? Hey, what's going on in there?"

Ferguson and Alfonso were aware of Marco's depression. But they certainly didn't know that he'd take it this far.

"Alright. Marco, I'm coming in."

Ferguson finally pushed the door open and his eyes landed on Marco, who was on the floor, hyperventilating and clutching something in his hand. Ferguson's eyes widened.

"Oh my god, _Marco_!" He yelled, kneeling down and trying to get Marco to stand up. Marco groaned, and opened his hand, letting the empty bottle of pills fall to the floor and roll to Ferguson's feet.

"Alfonso! Call an ambulance, right now! Shit! Marco, come on, why did you do this?! Hey, hey! Stay with me. Come on."

That was the last thing Marco heard, before everything went black.

* * *

 ** _~Present time~_**

"..and, yeah." Marco exhaled a breath that he didn't even know he was holding in. His eyes were fixated over at the fountain once again. He waited for Star to answer him with his story. Until he finally heard her sniffling and crying. He turned to look at her and saw that the hearts on her cheeks were broken.

"Star.. no. Please don't cry." Marco grabbed her hands and held them tight. But she shoved his arms away and tackled him into a heartfelt hug. She cried, and cried. Marco regretted telling her soon after.

"M-Mar.. Marco.." Star choked out, shaking her head against him and holding onto him tighter. " _Why-..?"_

"Ssh, _shh_.." Marco cooed to the blonde against him, stroking her hair and rubbing his hand up and down her back. "Don't cry. It's okay now. _I'm okay._ "

"I'm so sorry!" She sobbed and looked up at him with her puffy eyes. "Marco, please.. p-please, don't ever.. try that again."

They sat there on the bench in a loving embrace, holding each other for the longest time. It lasted for about a full 5 minutes, before Star finally spoke up. She looked up and locked her blue eyes with his brown ones.

"Marco.." She sniffled, and rested her head against his chest, listening to the sound of his beating heart. She never wanted that sound to stop. "Why did you do that?"

Marco sighed. "Star, I'm sorry.. I just.. you need to understand, I had nobody. I mean, _you_ were gone, _Jackie_ was gone.. and now I was living without my parents. What better time than that to try, right?"

"Stop.. don't joke about that. I don't like it." Star protested, and Marco nodded. Star opened her mouth to speak again. "Promise me."

"What?" Marco raised a brow. "Promise you what?"

Star narrowed her gaze. "Promise me that you'll never do that again. Nor hurt yourself in any way." She grabbed Marco's arm and rolled up his sleeve to check his wrist. He grimaced and pulled back, even though he had nothing to hide.

"I promise, Estrella Mariposa." Marco pulled Star close again, and left a soft kiss on her forehead.

" _I promise_."

* * *

 ** _Ah! Finally! I'm finishing this so late at night. There's probably so many spelling errors ;-; By the way, the flashbacks of Star getting ready for her wedding, and Marco's suicide attempt, were going on at the same time in their reality. Or, to simplify it: Star was getting ready for her wedding while Marco was in that bathroom. Just thought I should clear that up~_**

 ** _I hope y'all enjoyed this extra long chapter! Or not. You could've cried too. But I'm not good at writing sad stuffs. Fun fact you probably already knew: Pony Head's real name is Lilacia. Star named her daughter after her! Once again, you know the drill. Please leave a review telling me what you thought! Thank you!_**


	4. UPDATE: I'm back! 05-19

**_5/7/19_**

Hello everyone! Before I get into an update about what's been going on for the past 2 years of inactivity, I just wanted to say that I'm finally back. I'm not sure if anyone is still interested or even follows this story anymore, but if you do, then hi there! A huge update will be coming your way very soon!

I started working on The Bond my late freshman year of high school. There was a lot of stuff that happened that year, with stuff that affected my grades and graduating and whatnot. So as much as I wanted to update this story, I didn't have enough time to between all of that stuff. I'm currently a junior going on senior come August of this year. But recently I've been wanting to get into writing again, and of course I never forgot about this story so I'm going to start updating this one again! Finals are soon however, so I'm going to take time to get those out of the way and to also absorb my old ideas for this story and do some drafting until I'm ready to post another update, which you can look out for late this month or early June. I'm so excited to start this up again, and to interact with all of you once more. If you want to contact me about this story personally, or just chat, feel free to add me on Discord if you have one. My tag is leaf#6916. Thank you for tuning in. ~Lee


	5. Chapter 4

**_Hey everybody! I'm excited to start this up again! So excited that I couldn't wait until the end of May when I said I'd post the update, and I had most of chapter 4 already written out but never finished. But I did finish it, so.. why not post it now? And without further ado…._**

 ** _Let's get into the story! I do not own the characters of SVTFOE. All credit goes to Daron Nefcy and Disney._**

* * *

Night had fallen over Mewni. The royal guards and maids and servants were still up at work. Did they ever sleep? Star, Clayton, and Lilacia were sitting at the dining table, just about ready to start eating their dinner, before Star stood up.

"Um.. hold on, I'll be right back." She got out from the table and pushed her chair in. Clayton had already taken his first few bites without Star or Lilacia. He shot Star an icy glare when she got up.

"Hold on? For what?" Clayton questioned, with his mouth full. "There's nothing to hold on for. Sit back down, now." He demanded, never taking his eyes off of Star.

She turned away, not even bothering to turn back around. "It'll only take a minute." Star hated when Clayton acted like this, which was a majority of the time. He was always so serious and.. what's the word? Unloving? Yeah. That's about it.

Lilacia began to whine and she got down from her seat, following Star to the castle doors. "Mommy? Where are you going?" She frowned and began running to catch up with her mother. "Can I come?"

Star loved her daughter. There was no doubt about it. The only thing she wasn't a huge fan about, was that she was forced to try for an offspring with Clayton on their wedding night, which was only a few weeks after she left Earth. All for the sole purpose of having an heir to the throne if something were to happen to Star in the future. She didn't even feel ready for that kind of thing, and she certainly wasn't comfortable with giving her purity away to someone she didn't even want to marry. That didn't change her feelings about her daughter, though. Lilacia meant the world to her.

Star sighed in exasperation, but brushed it off and plastered a smile onto her face. She turned back around and kneeled down to meet Lilacia's eye level, brushing her thumb against the child's cheek softly. "Hun, you need to eat dinner. Don't worry, I'll be quick. I just need to check on someone. Stay with daddy. You can go ahead and eat dinner without me." Star glanced over at Clayton at the table, who was already digging into his plate, and she rolled her eyes. "Your father already started without the both of us, anyways."

To this, Lilacia giggled and hugged Star tight, looking into her eyes with a happy expression. "Okay, mommy."

Star smiled back at the child and kissed her cheek, before departing with her and walking out of the castle doors. The cool breeze of the night hit her exposed arms immediately, and she shivered, looking around for one person in particular.

"Marco?" She called out, cupping her hands around her mouth so her voice was more audible, in case Marco was far away. The stars were shining bright tonight, and it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen on Mewni. It reminded her of the times she and Marco would climb up to the roof of the house back on Earth, lay out a blanket with pillows, and stargaze together until either one of them fell asleep. She would always be the one to fall asleep first, of course, and whenever she'd wake up, she would always be back in her room, tucked away in bed as if she had fallen asleep there in the first place. It confused her the first few times, but she eventually found out that it was the work of Marco. She found it really sweet that he'd bring her back to bed so she'd be comfortable. She smiled to herself at the memory, before snapping out of her train of thought and walking around the outside of the palace to search for her best friend.

"Marco? Are you out here?" She called out again, walking through the garden they had went to earlier that day. As she walked, she thought over her friendship with him, and how they'd gotten really close over those 4 years living together.

She felt weird, seeing him today after being separated from him for so long. It felt like he had changed somehow. But she didn't understand why yet. He did seem really quiet when they talked earlier. Could that have been the reason? Maybe he was just as shy as she was.

Then she thought about her relationship with Clayton.

Well, for starters, she didn't enjoy it. But she pushed through with it just for the sake of Mewni, even though Clayton was a pretty bad king.

'Marco would be a better king than Clayton is.'

She thought to herself, and giggled.

'King Marco.'

The title replayed in her head, before she started mouthing out the words, but not saying them aloud. She loved the way it felt when she pretended saying it. King Marco, King Marco, King Marco.

Did she want him to be her king?

Marco..

"Looking for someone?" A male voice spoke up, and Star felt someone grab onto her arm to pull her around. She gasped, and yanked her arm away, pulling out her wand from under her dress, being strapped to her leg.

"Let go of me!" She screamed, and punched the man who had his hands on her. She heard him grunt and he let go immediately, and finally looked to see who it was.

Marco.

"Jeez.." He groaned, rubbing his jaw slowly. "Remind me next time to not touch you without introducing my presence first." He teased, letting his arms fall to his sides after the pain in his jaw subsided. Star's eyes widened, and she dropped her wand, going up close to Marco to see if she injured him badly.

"Oh my gosh! Marco, I'm so so sorry! I thought you were a stranger, I-.. sorry, are you alright?" She apologized, moving her hands to his cheeks to inspect him. He rolled his eyes and gripped her shoulders, giving them a light squeeze of reassurance.

"Star, it's okay. I'm okay. Don't worry about it. It was an accident. At least you didn't break my nose or anything like that." He moved his hands up to her wrists, holding her hands there for a moment before letting go.

"I-.. uh, I heard you yell for me." Marco scratched the back of his neck and looked down at his blonde best friend. "Need something?"

Star watched as he did so, and felt a blush run across her cheeks. She fought to hide it quickly. The way that the moonlight made his eyes sparkle. It was cute. Why was she feeling this way all of a sudden?

"N-no, no. I didn't need anything." She said subconsciously, as she gazed into those chocolate brown, mesmerizing eyes of his. She gasped, and realized what she had said, before shaking her head.

"I mean, yes! Yes, I do need you. I mean, I want you. Not like, I want you, like that way, but like, I want you, for something-" She stuttered, shaking her head as Marco chuckled.

"Star, slow down." He tilted his head, remembering just how much he loved Star for her goofy screw-ups like this. "Breathe."

"Okay," She started off. "What I was trying to say was, I know you haven't eaten in a while, so I was wondering if you wanted to join dinner tonight with me and Clayton and Lilacia!" She explained cheerfully, a nervous smile on her face. "I saved a spot for you just in case you happened to stroll back in somehow."

Marco smiled. After they had that moment of comforting each other earlier, they had sat there for a while longer, until Star had to get back to her duties as queen. She told Marco he could hang around the castle if he wanted; that she would only take a few minutes. And those minutes turned into hours. Eventually, he just came to the conclusion that she had forgotten about him.

"Ah.. that's alright, Star. I gotta get home anyways. I didn't even tell mom and dad where I was headed off to. They're probably getting worried sick about me right about now." He turned and pulled out the dimensional scissors from his back pocket, cutting open a portal and taking one step in. Star was in utter shock. For some reason, she couldn't comprehend why he wanted to leave so quickly.

"Wh-.. Marco, wait!" She cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him out from getting any further in. "Why leave? You just got here." Her face was twisted up in confusion. Marco yanked his arm away, a little more forcefully than he wanted it to be, and Star gasped. Marco sighed.

"More like a few hours ago." He retorted with a slight smirk on his face. She saw this, and smiled a bit herself.

"Whatever. Come on, I know you're hungry." She begged him, and he shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm not." He replied, before a small grumble came from his stomach. Due to the silence around them, Star definitely heard it, and she raised a brow.

"Uh huh." She giggled, "you were saying?"

She grabbed both of his hands and began pulling him towards the direction of which she came from. "You're going to eat."

"No, I don't want to."

"Marco, come on, please."

"Oh my god, Star-"

"YAY! Let's go!" She interrupted him mid-sentence, and he groaned as he was dragged to the dining hall.

Once inside, Star gestured for Marco to sit across from her, so she could be facing him the whole time instead of having to turn and look at him. It wasn't that she didn't want him to sit next to her; only because she was feeding Lilacia in her high chair on one side, and Clayton was on the other. Marco gave a warm smile at Lilacia as Star went back to feeding her, and Lilacia continued to stare at him. He didn't mind, because he needed to remember, he was still a stranger to Lilacia and Star's husband.

It was all but silence for the longest time, the occasional clinking of forks being set down onto plates and glasses hitting the polished granite top of the dinner table. Until Clayton took a sip of his wine and cleared his throat, getting ready to speak.

"Marco, I wanted to apologize for my behavior towards you earlier today." He starts off, speaking slowly to make sure Marco was registering everything that was coming out of his mouth. Star averts her attention to the two men, and Lilacia continues feeding herself. Marco, on the other hand, just listens intently, wanting to wait until Clayton was done until he gave his response. After all, he was talking to the king. Wouldn't it be like, rude to speak before he was finished or something?

"I wasn't acting like a king should to a guest, especially because you're Star's best friend," Clayton's voice trails off, and suddenly he holds out his hand to shake Marco's. "..I wish to start over. I've come to the realization that I was way out of line when greeting you the first time, and I'd love to get to know you better. So, if you're willing.." He looks to Star and she gives him a nod of approval, and a smile. "We want you to stay here with us in the palace. It's Summer back on Earth, yes? Stay the Summer here with us, Marco. I personally believe it'd be an honor to become acquainted with a long time friend of Star's."

Woah.

Was Marco hearing things, or did Clayton, the guy who was just giving him the death stare a few hours ago, really just offer him a place to stay this Summer? Better yet, to spend the whole Summer with Star, and get to know her husband and daughter?

He looks over to Star, giving her the 'is this guy for real?' look. She was grinning ear to ear, as if silently pleading him to say yes.

"I.. wow, yes. Yes, I'd be honored, your majesty." Marco takes Clayton's hand in his and shakes it firmly, to which Clayton cracks a smile and lets go.

"Alright then. It is settled." Clayton sits back in his chair, and continues eating. "So Marco, tell me about yourself and your family…"

Everything after that was history. It was sure one of the longest nights Marco has ever had, chatting away with Clayton and getting to know more about his childhood, stories between him and Star from the past 5 years, and sharing the same. Marco didn't expect this from the character Clayton set up for himself when he first met him. But if he was willing to try, then so was Marco.

Eventually, Lilacia was beginning to grow fussy, and Star and Clayton excused themselves to put her to bed, leaving Marco by himself at the dining table. He didn't exactly know where to go after this, just awaiting Star's return so she can lead him to a guest bedroom or something.

"Shit." Marco murmured under his breath as he realized that Alfonso and Ferguson were probably waiting for him to arrive at their apartment. "Well, change of plans." He muttered to himself, and took out his phone to text them. But just as he did so, his phone died. Comical.

"Alright, that's done." He heard Star talking to herself as she emerged from the hall. She made her way over to him with a bright smile on her face, which made him smile too. He could've sworn his heart skipped a beat whenever she did so much as simply smile. But he needed to stop thinking that. She's married, he reminded himself. There's no possible way..

"Marco. Hey." Star's voice snapped him out of his train of thought. She noticed that ever since he's got here he's been zoning out way more than she remembered, but she figured he must've been tired. "I said I wanna show you to your room, dummy."

Marco followed the blonde down the hall, to the last door on the right. It almost reminded him of a hotel, because of how many rooms there were. But then again, this was the royal palace.

"Here we are!" Star beamed with delight, and opened the door and allowed him to walk in first before following him inside. She left the door open however, considering she was going to leave in a few minutes anyways.

The room was a pretty decent size, with a royal blue ornate wallpaper and a king sized bed placed against the wall in front of them. There was a beautiful mural of Mewni hung above the headboard, and more furniture like a loveseat sofa in the corner of the room and two nightstands on either side of the bed. Marco instantly felt at home, and went to the bed and sat at the edge. To his surprise, Star followed suit, and sat down beside him.

"What are you doing?" He questioned with a quizzical look on his face.

"Am I not allowed to sit next to you?" Star joked, shifting her body so that she was facing him. Her hands played with each other in her lap, and she studied his features carefully. "Did you enjoy dinner?"

"Of course I did. The food here is heavenly compared to any other 5 star restaurant on Earth. And thank God you stopped serving everything corn related here."

"Oh my god, right? I was starting to get sick of that myself." She snorted, covering her mouth with both hands to stifle a laugh rising in her throat so she didn't awake anyone who was already in bed.

"Oh, good. Because in all honesty, that's the main reason why I refused your dinner invitation that first time."

"Knock it off!" She shoves him down on the bed and he chuckles, falling back and sprawling out like a starfish. Star leans back and holds herself up by her elbows. They laugh and laugh, teasing each other and being goofy just like old times. Star throws herself back as well, laying beside Marco as they both stare up at the skylight. The moon slowly shifts into frame.

It felt nice. Laying here and watching the stars twinkle in the endless sky. It reminded Marco of a specific memory he had with her when they were stargazing on his roof back on Earth.

* * *

 ** _~Past time, 6 years earlier~_**

"And that one?"

"That's Orion. He was a hunter in Greek mythology. And he had hunting dogs too, you see? Canis Major and Canis Minor, right there." Marco leans a bit closer and points so that Star can see.

"Aww, hi doggies!" She chimed, and Marco rolled his eyes. Of course she'd be won over by the dogs and not the almighty hunter. That's the Star Butterfly he knew and loved.

They'd been laying on his roof for about an hour now, and they just finished up eating ice cream that Rafael climbed up to give them. It was a Summer night anyways, so it was pretty warm out and ice cream while stargazing just felt right.

After another few minutes of pointing out every constellation they could find, they simply just laid there in silence. Somehow, their hands found each other, and their hands interlocked in such a perfect way that it was almost like it was meant to be. Her hand fit so perfectly in his and his felt so right holding hers. But they weren't thinking about that right now, because it was already way past the bedtime Marco had been trying to keep them on schedule for because Star screwed up her sleeping schedule for the second week in a row.

"Alright, come on. Let's head back inside." He said as he sat up and stretched, to which Star whined and pulled him back to lay down beside her once again.

"But whyyyy? It's Summer!" She protested, pouting at him as she huffed in disappointment.

"You're right. It is Summer. But that doesn't give you an excuse to stay up 'till 4am like you have been lately," He sighed. "You need to take care of yourself better. Sleeping is a huge part of your health, Star."

"Yeah yeah, blah blah, I don't really care." She drowned his voice out with her own and put her arm over him, scooting closer at the feeling of his body heat against her. It felt nice, even though it was already pretty warm in the air around them. "I just wanna stay here with you.. and watch the stars fade away, and for the moon to sleep, and wait for the sunrise and.."

Marco didn't bother to reply. He wasn't going to give in to staying up again after his attempts at weaning her off of this habit. But a few minutes went by, and she hadn't said anything. In fact, he realized that she still had her arm over him and was practically laying on his chest. "Star?"

He looked down and, to his expectations, she was fast asleep. He stared at her for a moment, taking in how peaceful her features looked, how he could feel and hear her breathing.

And how beautiful she looked.

It wasn't long before he decided to take her in his arms and carry her back inside. Once inside, he shifted her body weight in his arms a little more comfortably, and the lazer puppies came running down the stairs to greet him as he was going up.

"Not now," He whispered, careful not to step on any of them accidently or trip on a step by accident. "You guys are gonna make me trip, come on. Go to bed."

At this, they obeyed and ran back up to his room to sleep. He however, made his way to Star's room to put her to bed first. The door was already half open, so he pushed past it and laid her down, pulling the comforter over her as she made a soft moan of tiredness. He didn't want to wake her, he just needed to make sure she looked comfortable enough to leave her and head to bed himself.

"Good night, Star." He hummed softly, leaning down and giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. As he turned to leave however, he felt her hand grab his wrist gently and pull him back down.

"Stay.." She grumbled, half-asleep. "Marco.. stay." She repeated, yawning and rolling over so her back was facing him. Why did she have to be so persuasive?

"Alright." The boy obliged, climbing into bed with her. He pulled the covers once again over the both of them, and soon they both fell fast asleep.

* * *

 ** _~Present time, Mewni~_**

After a few minutes, Star finally sat up with a sigh of content.

"Today was fun." She admitted, smiling down at her best friend. "I'm really glad you're here, Marco."

Marco sits up as well, the memory fading away as he snaps back to reality. "Yeah. Me too." He agreed happily. He then realized that him and Star were actually pretty close to each other right now, so close that if he wanted, he could lean in and kiss her. Kiss her like he should've done that night she left for Mewni. Which.. he did want. But he knew it was too much, and too forward.

He noticed Star eyeing his lips for a split second, before her gaze returned to his eyes. "Well.." She started, getting up and walking back to the bedroom door. Marco half sighed, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in.

"Good night. Sleep tight." Star gave him a warm smile. It seemed as though she hesitated to leave the room for a moment, but she just bit her lip and closed the door behind her.

Marco laid back in the bed and rolled over onto his side, pulling down on the switch of the lamp as his heavy eyelids finally closed.

Although this time, it was him who wanted her to stay.

* * *

Star began walking back to her and Clayton's private sleeping quarters, lost in her thoughts. As she approached, Arin, the guard who refused to let Marco in earlier that morning, bowed respectfully. "Sleep well, my queen."

Star bowed her head in return, walking past him, before he suddenly turned and grabbed her arm to stop her. "Arin? What is it?"

"I'm sorry, your majesty. I almost forgot.." He slips his hand into his pocket and pulls out a letter. "This was delivered just a few moments ago. It was said to be brought to you and only you, and I couldn't find King Clayton anywhere. I believe he's already asleep. I apologize."

Star's brows furrowed in concern, taking the letter but not opening it just yet. "Thank you, Arin. I understand, you don't have to apologize." She smiled. "Get some rest." She ordered, and with that she walked back to her room.

As soon as she walked in there, she felt odd. Like something wasn't right. She shook it off, though. In the dark, she walked over to her side of the bed, and turned on the lamp on her nightstand. Carefully and calmly, she unfolded the letter.

And she froze.

Her hands began to shake, and she dropped the letter in fear. Her breathing quickened, and she tried to calm down by looking at anything else in the room. Clayton laying beside her. The mural of her with Clayton and Lilacia. Anything else but that letter. But her eyes always found their way back down to it. And on that letter, were three simple words:

 _'I'm back._

 _-Toffee'_

* * *

 ** _Oh my god you guys! I'm so so so excited to hear what you all think! AhhHhhHHhhHH-_**

 ** _Just to clarify so that you understand when this is taking place: Let's just pretend that everything in the show has happened, up until The Battle For Mewni, where Toffee is supposedly erased for good. I know in the first chapter I had mentioned that I wrote that chapter before Running With Scissors premiered, but that was only me saying that I had no idea that Marco was going to actually get his own pair of dimensional scissors in the show. So in my story, he doesn't he doesn't have the ones that Hekapoo gave him. Just in case some of you were confused on what's canon and what's not in this._**

 ** _Anyways, please please please let me know what you think! Thank you all so much again to those who stuck around, and to those just finding this now :) Have a great day!_**

 ** _Or night, whenever you're reading this._**


	6. Chapter 5

**_Hello again! It's finally Summer. And with that, here's another update! But first, I just wanted to take a quick minute to respond to some of your comments!_**

 _ **Michaelmatran: Oh my god, you're too kind! Thank you dearly! I hope to not disappoint!**_

 _ **Sauce212: Hahaha, I like the latter! But who knows?**_

 _ **Kuriyan BBQ: Hi again! Thank you so much! And I don't know.. I really like that theory ;)**_

 _ **Now that those are done, let's jump right into the story!**_

 ** _I do not own the characters of SVTFOE. All credit goes to Daron Nefcy and Disney._**

* * *

 _"I'm back._

 _-Toffee"_

The three words that sent Star into a downward spiral. She felt as though someone was choking her, as she suddenly found it harder to breathe.

At first, she didn't know what to think. The words on the letter kept replaying in her head, and she could feel her tears welling up in her eyes. How was this even possible? 'Toffee is dead.' She told herself, hoping it would calm her down enough. Her mind then wandered to what she should do next, and the first thing she thought of was telling Marco as soon as she got the chance. She knew what he'd do once he found out, though. It'd probably go something like this: he'd tell her that she had nothing to worry about, because he can handle it himself. Then he'd probably go off on an epic journey to settle things with Toffee by himself, he'd get hurt, or worse…

And that sent a shiver throughout her body. It scared her, just the thought of anything bad happening to Marco because of something she was too scared to deal with.

 _'I can't.'_ She thought to herself. _'I can't tell Marco.'_

"Mm.." Clayton stirred awake behind her, turning so that he was facing her. "Star?" He sat up and put a hand on her shoulder, only to feel her trembling beneath his touch. "You're shaking," He whispered, getting out of bed and walking around to her side. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Star replied, quicker than she anticipated, and shoved the letter discreetly under her thigh. She'd told him about Toffee before: who he was, what he wanted, and what he did way back when. And because of this, she didn't want to tell him about the letter. For if she did, she knew that he'd probably send out troops to hunt Toffee down. Plus, she didn't even know what he even wanted yet. Though it most likely wasn't good things, that's for sure. "Nothing is wrong. Let's go to sleep." She quickly dismissed him and began moving the blankets away so he'd get up from the bed.

He just stood there for a minute, studying her body language closely. But he quickly shook it off, coming to the conclusion that if it was a big deal, she wouldn't have dismissed him like that and explained the situation to him. He got back into bed with her, this time facing her and wrapping an arm over her to hold her securely against him. "Good night." He planted a soft kiss on her neck, closing his eyes and fading back into unconsciousness.

It wasn't long before she too felt a wave of drowsiness overtake her, and soon she fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

"Marco!" Star screeched, desperately trying to tear away from the monsters holding her back, who simply tightened their grip on her bound arms. Marco met her eyes, and struggled against the monster holding him back as well.

"Star!" he shouted, ripping one arm away from the monster. Unfortunately, the creature quickly gained control, and struck the brunette down across the back, causing him to collapse to the floor. Star screamed.

"NO, STOP!" her voice echoed, and Marco looked up at her from his hunched over place on the ground, a look of fear and anxious desperation in his eyes. She let out a ragged breath, tears forming in her eyes. "Please.. don't hurt him." She begged, never taking her eyes off of him.

Suddenly, Toffee came into her line of sight. His face was expressionless, as if none of this amused him at all. He approached Star on her knees, leaning down to look her directly in the eye, and caressed her cheek with a scaly hand. "Even after all these years, you're still the same. I guess since it's the end, I may as well confess. From the moment I met you, I always thought it wouldn't be so difficult to finish you and your little sidekick off." Star turned her head away from him at his touch, but he stops her by grabbing her chin and forcefully turning her head to look at him. Marco tugs against his restraint harder to the sight of this, uttering shouts of protest as he frantically tries to break away.

Toffee continued. "You"ve actually proven yourself to be a bit more of a challenge, though. So, congratulations, your majesty. You've impressed me."

"Toffee, please, _please_ don't do this! Just let her go!" Marco shouted, and Star could hear the sheer vulnerability in his voice. It made her want to rush over and comfort him, tell him that everything was going to be fine. Though, the look in Toffee's eyes made her realize what a lie that would be.

At Marco's comment, Toffee released Star, and she fell forward at his feet as he stood up straight once again. She took this opportunity to take a good look at her surroundings. Clayton was nowhere to be found. Where the hell was he?

Toffee and Marco's voices became softer and more drowned out, until she couldn't hear anything anymore. All she could do was watch in a muted scene as Toffee suddenly grabbed Marco by his shirt, thrusting him back against the wall behind him and holding him a foot or two above the ground. Before Marco could fight back, Toffee clamped his hand around Marco's throat, and began to squeeze. Star opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Over Toffee's shoulder, she could see Marco; eyes wide with horror as he clawed at Toffee's arms. He jerked, flailing his legs and trying to kick, but anyone could tell that his strength was faltering by the second. His face started going red now due to lack of air, and Star could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Marco then tore his gaze away from Toffee's eyes to look at Star. With a single tear escaping from his eye, he mouthed a single word to Star.

 ** _"Sorry."_**

And almost instantly, Star's hearing came back at once, just in time to hear a sickening crack as Toffee snapped Marco's neck. Star's vision became blurred with her tears, screaming bloody murder. And all she saw was her best friend's body go instantly still. Toffee let go of him, and Marco's body hit the pavement with a soft thud.

* * *

 _"NO!"_ Star awoke with a scream, quickly sitting up in bed and breathing heavily. Clayton wakes up to this too, jumping out of bed to run and turn on the lights of their bedroom.

"Star! Star, hey, look at me-" Clayton rushes back over to her side on the bed, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcefully turning her to face him.

"No! LET GO OF ME!" She screamed once again, slapping his hands away and sobbing into her own hands.

"Okay, okay." He spoke calmly, holding his hands up in surrender and moving them into his lap. "It's okay. Just breathe. Tell me what happened."

She didn't get the chance to, however, as the royal guards broke into the room, swords ready. "Your majesties, is everything all-"

 _"Marco!"_ Star yelled, fumbling out of the bed and pushing past the guards in the doorway to get to Marco's room.

She didn't make it very far, tripping on the way there from how fast she was running. It didn't matter anyways though, because as she was running there, Marco himself opened the door, taking one step out to peak and see what was going on.

"Star?" He said with a startled tone in his voice. He jogs over to her crying on the ground and helps her sit up properly. "What's wrong? I-"

"Marco.." Star whimpered his name, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him with her head against his chest, soothed by the sound of his heartbeat. It almost hurt him from how tight she was squeezing, but he didn't care. He just held her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair soothingly. He didn't have a clue what this was about, but now wasn't the time to ask questions. She just needed him to comfort her right now.

"You're okay. Everything's okay. I'm here." He whispers in her ear, just like she wanted him to on her wedding day. She smiled to herself, relaxing in his arms just as the guards and Clayton ran out to see where she went off to.

Marco watches them as they approach. Clayton pushes past the guards that formed a circle around the two of them, and furrowed his brows at the sight. Marco made eye contact with Clayton for a few seconds, seeing his slightly angry expression, then turning his attention back to Star, not letting go from that hug.

 ** _~The next morning~_**

After breakfast, Star excused herself suddenly and hadn't come back for about ten minutes or so. Marco began to worry, so, finding the right time to slip away, he made his way throughout the palace to look for his best friend. He never got the chance to ask her what everything that happened last night was about, and he wasn't sure if he should ask her right now, or if she wanted to talk about it at all. It must've been something important.

Because, he would know, right?

Marco found himself back in the royal garden from the day before, thinking to himself that Star would probably be here if she needed somewhere to recollect her thoughts. And just as he expected, she was.

She was sitting at the edge of the fountain, gently tapping the surface of the water and watching the ripple effect that followed. She seemed to be stressed about something, but he didn't know what yet.

Star sees his reflection of him approaching her through the water, but she didn't bother to look in his direction. She didn't even really acknowledge his presence; she just sighed and continued playing with the water.

Marco felt awkward, not exactly knowing what to say. What was he supposed to say? ' _Oh, hey. So you know last night when you basically tackled me and had a full meltdown on the ground? What was that about?'_

"I know what you're thinking," Star suddenly said, which caught Marco by surprise. He stuffs his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to continue that thought before replying. "And I don't want you to worry about it."

"How do you expect me to do that? Star, you were crying, and shaking. I mean, you looked terrified…" He walks over and sits beside her, following her gaze and staring at both of their reflections in the water. "I know it's been a few years. But I don't want you to feel like you can't trust me with stuff that's bothering you still. You're my best friend, Star. If something is bothering you, it's going to bother me too."

"That's the thing though, Marco!" She suddenly raised her voice, and yanked her hand out of the water, causing a little splash. He just stared. She stands up, beginning to pace back and forth in front of him. "I know that you're here for me. And it's not that I don't trust you, Marco. Because believe me, I trust you with my life. But this time, I just…"

Slowly, Marco stands up and makes his way over to her. "You just..?" He stands in front of her, wanting her to meet his eyes. But she was just acting really strange all of a sudden, and he couldn't just let this go.

"I just.. can't. I'm sorry." She mutters, and Marco sees the tears in her eyes. She never cried, unless it was something that was extremely important to her. But he had to respect her decision, and not push it any further.

"Okay. That's okay." Marco wraps his arms around her in a comforting hug, and she cries against his chest. He wanted nothing more than for her to be her happy, bubbly self that she was just yesterday before everything happened that night. But how could she, knowing that Toffee was out there, sending clear threats? What if he came at any moment now?

"I have an idea." He pulled away from the hug and she began wiping her tears, staring at him intently once she was done. "How about I take you and Lilacia out on a walk around the village, and we can stop by that bakery I got your cupcake from the other day? I'll get something for Lilacia too, on me."

"Oh.. Marco, you don't have to do that. Plus, I'm sure Clayton needs me back in the palace, to deal with.. you know, king stuff." She looked bored just saying that, and he already knew that she needed something fun to do right now.

"I want to go to the bakery!" A soft voice exclaimed, which belonged to no other than Lilacia, popping out from behind one of the bushes and running over to Star, holding her hand. "Mommy, can we go, please?"

"How long have you been standing there?" Star laughed, holding onto Lilacia's hand in return. Marco smiles down at her, and kneels down so she can see him better again.

"I'm trying to convince your mommy too," Marco teases, getting a giggle out of Lilacia. "But she's being a little silly… I think we're gonna have to drag her there ourselves, what do you say?"

"Yeah!" Lilacia yells, keeping a firm grip on Star's hand as Marco grabs onto Star's free one, pulling her along with the help of her daughter.

"God, Marco, I'm so getting you back for this!" Star joked as she was being dragged away by the two.

* * *

"Oh no! And then what happened?"

"I punched the guy right through the chest, _HYAH!"_ Marco punches the air, making Lilacia laugh.

The three of them had been walking around for almost the whole afternoon, munching on their cupcakes and some extra sweets, courtesy of the baker. Eventually they got tired of walking and decided to find a nice tree to sit under and chat. This tree was one of the prettiest Marco had ever seen: the leaves a soft shade of pink, close to the color of Star's cheek marks, and the branches and trunk were a dark purple. The past few minutes were spent with Marco telling Lilacia some funny stories about Star and him, and the adventures they went on together. It sucks that he just had to bring up what happened with Toffee though. That's the story he was telling Lilacia right now.

"Then Mommy blasted him right in the face! And after that, he-.. well, maybe I shouldn't tell you _that_ part." Marco chuckled, smiling at how wide-eyed Lilacia was from her interest in all of his stories. Star, however, was sitting back against the tree, watching the two of them as they bonded. It really helped, watching two of the people she really cared about bonding so quickly. Lilacia just seemed so eased with everything Marco was saying and doing. If only he was telling any other story than this one.

"Wow! Mommy, you really did that?" Lilacia turns excitedly to Star, who smiles in return and scoots over to them.

"You bet." She ruffles Lilacia's hair playfully, looking up at Marco. "But not without the help of Marco here."

"Hehe, cool…. Mr. Marco, you're so awesome!" Lilacia beams excitedly. "Can you tell me another one?"

"Another one?" Marco begins to stand up, helping the two girls off their feet as well. "I don't know.. I think we're gonna have to save the next few for another time. It's getting pretty late, and we need to get you back in time for dinner. All this sugar isn't good for you. Come on, kiddo." He picks up the empty box which was once filled with cupcakes and other treats. Lilacia moans in disappointment. They gather the rest of their things, and head back to the palace.

* * *

After dinner, Clayton excused himself and went up to bed early, leaving Star, Marco, and Lilacia together downstairs. They talked for a little while longer, until eventually it was time to go to sleep.

"Okay Lil, it's bedtime. Let's get you to sleep, yeah?" Star stood up from her seat and held out a hand for Lilacia. Surprisingly, she didn't complain or whine like she normally does, but reached up for Star to carry her instead. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned. No wonder she was so tired, she sure used up all of her energy from walking and playing with Marco earlier in the day.

"M'kay." Lilacia yawned again as she was picked up, resting her head on Star's shoulder and holding onto her neck.

"Walk me to her room?" Star smiled at Marco, and he nodded with a smile in return. When they got to Lilacia's room, Marco stood and leaned against the doorframe, watching Star tuck in her daughter and kiss her good night.

"I wanna say good night to Marco." Lilacia sits up in her bed and searches for Marco around the room, staring at him once her gaze fixated on him.

Star looks over her shoulder and gestures for Marco to come closer, and he does. He smiles and, once he's close enough, Lilacia leaps up and hugs him, catching him by surprise. He steps back a few feet, holding her safely in his arms and hugs back warmly. "Good night." He smiles, laying her back down as gently as possible and letting Star tuck her in again.

"Good night, my little princess." Star kisses Lilacia's forehead, and almost right away, she falls fast asleep. They both exit the room, and after Star closes the door, Marco speaks softly.

"She's so adorable." He says, a big smile on his face as Star begins to speak.

"And she really likes you. But, maybe it's because of all the sweets you bought her today." She teases, and they both laugh among themselves, making their way to their rooms.

"Thank you for everything today, Marco. I.. I really needed a break from all the kingdom stuff, y'know? I'm just glad that you came along to remind me how it was before I became queen.." She says, her tone getting sadder and sadder as her sentence progresses.

"Of course. I could just tell you needed it. It did seem like we might've pissed Clayton off a little, though." Marco replies, following Star to the guarded entrance of her sleeping quarters. He stops a few feet away, shoving his hands in his pockets and giving a little bob of his head. "Good night."

"Good night, Marco." Star waves back at him with a loving smile as he turns and walks away, bowing to the guard as she walks by. But as she's about to open her door..

"Queen Star." A royal guard approaches with a bow, holding out a folded up piece of paper. "This was requested to be delivered to you. Have a good night." The guard quickly turns and walks off, leaving Star alone with another note just like the one from last night.

She stands there, not even sparing another second and opens the note with shaky hands. It read,

 _'So, Marco is back on Mewni. This will make things a lot more interesting for us, now won't it?_

 _I'm sorry to have left the note on a cliffhanger, my dear. It can be pretty challenging to write such a letter when you're making a plan on how you're going to kill off the royal family._

 _Like I said, there is this dilemma now that you have Marco at your side again. That is, if you do decide to tell him._

 _Although, if you do, it may work out in both of our favors. I could just kidnap the princess so I can finish what I should have done years ago._

 _I'll be seeing you soon._

 _Real soon._

 _-Toffee'_

"Oh, god." Star leaned back against the wall and felt her knees give out beneath her, sliding down against it until she was sitting on the floor. "Not Lilacia. I can't.. he can't."

After frantically storing the second letter back in her and Clayton's bedroom, she walks out and makes her way to Lilacia's room, which was just down the hall. She walks in quietly, not wanting to wake her, and lays down beside her, brushing the hair out of her face and falling asleep with one final thought.

She was not going to let Toffee near her family. No matter what.

* * *

 ** _Yay! Finally I was able to get this update out to you guys! I can't believe SVTFOE is officially over. My new goal of this is to help you guys cope with the series finale, so don't worry: soon there will be PLENTY of Starco! As per usual, let me know what you guys thought of this chapter, and what you think might happen next! Thank you for reading, and expect an update soon :)_**

 ** _(Also, a quick side note: I decided to also post this story up on Wattpad as well! I've never really used Wattpad before though, so I'm still kinda learning, but I'll always be posting new chapters here first before updating it over there. I may post this on Ao3 as well! Just something I thought I could fill you guys in on!)_**


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